A Blueberry Thursday
by Saminat
Summary: Everyone knows Derpy. She is Ponyville's beloved mailmare and the mother of Dinky Doo. But how does she get ready on an average morning?


A Blueberry Thursday

In a small bedroom, in a medium sized home, a light gray pegasus gently slept under a thick comforter. The mare had a peaceful smile on her lips and a tuft of her light blond mane stuck out comically. She turned a little to scratch her muzzle, and continued dozing, completely oblivious to the encroaching wake up. The alarm began ringing at the pre-ordained time of six o'clock, sending a metallic clinking throughout the room. The mare's nose crinkled in mild annoyance, and a hoof thrust out to blindly reach for the still ringing contraption. After missing several times, she finally made contact and shut the incessant noise off. Stretching widely and giving an enormous yawn, Derpy Hooves got out of bed to begin her day.

Still stretching out her limbs, she made her way across the room to the door that led into her bathroom, eyes half-lidded. As Derpy nudged her way inside, she accidentally bumped her shoulder against the frame, but she paid it no heed. It was a plain looking bathroom, with the only indication that it belonged to her being the bubble printed shower curtain.

Derpy grasped the plastic cover between her teeth, pulled it aside, and stepped into the white porcelain tub. With a lazy flick of her hoof, she turned the shower on; this proved to be a mistake. Derpy was always forgetting things, misplacing items, and generally goofing up. This morning, she had forgotten that the water heater needed some time to make hot water for the shower. A torrent of freezing cold water cascaded down onto her head, causing her sleep clouded eyes to snap forward at attention. The pegasus let out a tragic cry and tried jumping back out of the stream. Her hooves slid on the wet bottom and she slipped, falling and hitting her head against the bathtub.

Twenty minutes later, Derpy had finished her shower, that is, after the water had warmed up a little. Using the towel she used to dry herself off, she wiped down the foggy mirror. What looked back at her, was a set of yellow wall-eyes. To the uninformed onlooker, it would seem that she was still dazed by the formidable goose egg on her head, but that was simply how they were. Ever since she was a little filly, her vision had just adopted the strange fashion, but time had allowed her to adjust, and she now had no difficulty with her hoof-eye coordination.

After brushing her mane into her usual spiky way, she trotted out of the wash room. Checking her clock, Derpy realized that she had been inside the bathroom for just over forty-five minutes. _Golly, I'd better get breakfast started, _and with that, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen.

…

Derpy had decided that this particular morning would be as good as any to make her special blueberry muffins. She preheated her oven, and began collecting all the ingredients that she would need. On her counter grew a pile of flower, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, baking powder, cinnamon, vegetable oil, and, of course, blueberries. Into a large mixing bowl, she began putting in all the items. For the next few minutes, all that could be heard was the clinking of the mixing spoon, and the hum of the heating oven. Derpy greased a muffin tray, and was just about to pour the mixture, when she remembered that she still had to add her secret ingredient.

Setting the bowl back down, she pulled out a box of granola and added a generous amount. Then, setting the box back in the cupboard, she decided that a few more blueberries wouldn't hurt. She then began pouring the muffin batter into the muffin cups, careful so as not to spill any outside. She pulled the oven open, and slid the tray inside. Satisfied that she would soon have a dozen delicious treats, she began getting ready for work.

Out in the entryway of her home, Derpy flipped her cap on top of her head, and found that it effectively hid the still angry bump on her forehead. She didn't put on her mail bag, as she still had a good hour until she had to leave, so instead she just set it aside next to the front door; she also hung her hat back up.

Derpy was a mailmare, meaning that she delivered mail to all the ponies in Ponyville. While some might think that her eyes made her work difficult, they couldn't be further off from the truth. Being able to focus on two things at once was a great attribute that the postmaster valued greatly. It allowed her to keep an eye on where she flew, and also where the next package was to be delivered. Derpy did such a good job in fact, that for all the years she had donned the mailbag and cap, she had not once made an incorrect delivery; she was very proud of her flawless record.

Upon re-entering the kitchen, she saw, or rather she smelt, that the muffins would be done soon. Taking a seat at the table, she closed her eyes and drank in the heavenly aroma that permeated the air. Apparently the smell had reached the rest of the house, as soon after she sat down, a small gray unicorn foal walked in. She had her eyes closed, allowing her movements to be guided by smell alone. The filly would have walked straight into the hot oven, but Derpy grasped her tail and pulled her out of the blissful muffin reverie.

"Careful Dinky, I would hate to see your little nosie burnt."

Dinky looked up and gave a grin. "Ok Momma! Those muffins sure do smell good, can I have one now?"

Derpy looked down at her with a loving smile, her eyes straightened, just as they always did when speaking with her daughter. "They sure do sweetie, but they aren't ready just yet. Give them a few more minutes and I'll let you have the first one, how does that sound?"

The little unicorn pouted out her lips in a mock scowl, but her eyes gave away that she didn't mind at all. Derpy unfolded a wing and tickled the tip of Dinky's nose, and she fell down giggling from the sudden shock of tickle. She got up and pulled back one of the chairs, and with some help from her mother, scrambled up on top. As soon as she made herself settled, Dinky launched into what she had been dreaming about the night before. Derpy just sat, as she listened to all the impossibly fantastic dreams of a little excited filly; well almost impossible, Pinkie Pie has been known to do some pretty crazy stuff.

The little egg timer, which had been slowly counting down, began buzzing at that moment, announcing that the treasured breakfast pastries were at last finished. With a sleight of hoof, Derpy reached into the oven, pulled out the tray, and set it on the stove top faster than you could say rutabaga. Without warning, Dinky clambered off her chair, and rushed towards the stove, tongue lolling out. Once again, Derpy saved her from imminent pain.

"Careful Muffin, a burnt tongue is just as bad as a burnt snout. We need to give them some time to cool down before we dig in."

This time Dinky did mean her pout, "But I'm hungry now!" and she clopped her hooves on the linoleum to emphasize her impatience.

"I know I know," said Derpy in a mild tone. "Tell you what, why don't we play a game until they are cooled down enough?"

At the mention of the word "game", the switch was thrown back to hyperactive filly mode, and Dinky began bouncing around the kitchen in circles, squeaking with unexaggerated joy. Derpy just sat where she was, watching Dinky and waiting for her to calm down just a tad; that was the problem with her daughter. While she had been lucky to not inherit her mother's wall eyes, she had instead fallen victim to ADHD.

Dinky had finally calmed down enough to go at a steady canter. "What can we play… oh oh oh, let's play hide-n'-go-seek; you look for me first! Count to thirty and then come find me; no cheating, alright?"

Derpy sighed and gave into the young one's requests. "Ok then, you'd better start finding a good spot to hide, because I'm gonna find you for sure this time!"

She began her slow count, and Dinky bolted out of the kitchen, laughing with foalish glee. Derpy didn't know why she still continued playing this game with her daughter; she had never found her without giving up, not even once. She had just reached thirty when she heard the giggling stop, and she knew that Dinky had once again found a perfect hiding spot somewhere within the house.

"Ready or not, here I come!" and Derpy swept out of the kitchen to comb the house.

She immediately began checking the places that Dinky had chosen as past hiding spots. She checked the laundry basket, the shelves in the linen closet, and even the washing machine, Celestia knows why she would be there. Derpy continued searching for her daughter, checking bedrooms, bathrooms, closets, and anywhere else she could think of. She didn't consider the choice of her basement, as she knew how much the filly was afraid of monsters that she thought might be there. Much of the same searching came up fruitless, and before she knew it, she had already spent ten minutes searching.

Derpy set down the vase that she had just been peering into, and thought back to the muffins that would certainly be cool by now. _I'd better find her before they get too cold, but where could she be?_

A light clicked on in her head as she got a devious idea that would lure the foal out for sure. Derpy walked out into the middle of the house, which was where she could be heard from throughout. She walked down the hallway and plopped down on her rump.

"Oh darn, it looks like Dinky is nowhere to be found. It's a shame that I'll have to eat all of those delicious muffins all by myself…" Derpy began keeping a stray eye and ear out to detect when the little unicorn would show herself.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't cheat!"

Derpy jolted where she sat, and barely had enough time to look up before a small bundle of gray fur dropped on top of her. Dinky had chosen the ceiling as her brilliant hiding spot, and Derpy had to admit it was her best spot yet. For a few moments, they were an unrecognizable mass of fur, feathers, and blond manes. The little pony was giggling hysterically as she had successfully startled her mother, but Derpy wasn't going to lay there and take it. With a swift movement, she turned the tables and was looming over the laughing filly. Dinky continued laughing, just even more fiercely than before, and her eyes widened as she began flailing around. The prospect of monsters in the basement was certainly scary, but she now found herself in the hooves of a real one: The Tickle Monster.

Derpy was tickling her entire body. A hoof would start at her tummy, and move upward to tease under her chin, deftly avoiding the vain attempts to stop her. Soon, Dinky's efforts stopped, and she gave into her fate to be tickled to death. Just as tears began filling her eyes from the intense laughter, Derpy decided that she had had enough.

"Alright then, what say we go have some muffins?" said Derpy with a kind tone that was completely uncharacteristic for The Tickle Monster.

"Ok, that sounds great Momma!" and Dinky trotted back into the kitchen, leaving Derpy to follow the hyper streak.

…

Derpy entered the kitchen and smiled, shaking her head at her daughter. Dinky was precariously perched on an almost cartoonish stack of crooked items on a chair. She was wobbling back and forth in front of the stove with a spatula gripped in her mouth. At the sound of her mother's hooves, she turned from where she was attempting to extract the pastry, and let the spatula drop, giving a sheepish grin.

Derpy chuckled to herself, and made her way to the endangered unicorn. Extending her wingspan, she tilted her body to create a makeshift slide. Dinky didn't hesitate, and she leapt off the stack, and down the pegasus slide. She hit the floor and Derpy folded her wings back. She clenched the spatula in her own teeth, and turned to the tray of muffins. With little effort, she popped the first one out, and set it on a plate on the table.

"Dig in sweetie!"

Dinky didn't need to be told twice, and she shoved her face into the muffin before her, showering the floor with crumbs. Derpy laughed to herself at the ravenous filly, and made to get her own muffin. Sitting down next to her daughter, she began to make ground on her own breakfast. She bit into the moist top, and let the bliss wash over her. Several times her eyes would swirl around on their own will, before locking back on the task at hoof. The blueberries were nice, ripe, and had a bittersweet taste. The cinnamon and sugar helped take the edge of the bitterness away. The game of hide-n'-go-seek had really cooled the pastries down, but left them with a warm center that she found delightful. The granola she added was really doing its part, and each bite had a pleasant crunch that did nothing to take away its perfection.

"Mmmmmm, ish goo Mahma!"

Derpy rolled her eyes, both going in their own direction. "Now now, what did I say about talking with your mouth full?"

With a mighty swallow, Dinky disposed of the muffin in her mouth. "Sorry Momma, I forgot; now you hate me." She looked down at the floor, ears drooped and a downcast look on her face.

She nuzzled Dinky, and brought her face to look at her with a hoof. "Oh Muffin, I would never hate you. Not in a million years, especially for something as silly as that. Promise me you'll never forget, that no matter how frustrated I may get, that I will always love you."

Dinky, looked up, and her mouth slowly split into a smile. She nuzzled Derpy back, "Ok Momma, I promise."

Derpy looked up at the clock that hung next to the refrigerator. "Goodness, it's already seven fifty; we'd best be leaving soon. Go brush your mane Dinky."

Licking the last of the taste off her lips, she jumped down to the floor, and made her way to the bathroom. Derpy remained at the table a moment longer to finish her breakfast, and then she too got down to finish getting ready. Before leaving the kitchen, she dumped the last of the muffins into a brown paper bag; they would be lunch later on.

Upon entering the entryway again, Derpy was met with a freshly brushed Dinky, hopping from hoof to hoof. "I'm ready Momma, I'm ready!"

"Ok ok," said Derpy with unfeigned enthusiasm. She slipped the cap on her head, and after depositing the muffins, slung the mailbag on. "Let's go sweetie!"

…

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville. The birds were chirping in their trees, butterflies flew about, and a glorious sun was just making its way up into the sky, filling the inhabitants with warmth and happiness. There was not a single cloud to be seen in the sky, Rainbow Dash had seen to that. The proud weather pony always felt it was important to make sure the first few days of spring were cleared early.

Derpy leaned down, allowing Dinky to jump into a pouch of the mailbag made just for her. "Alright Muffin, get ready!" and with a fluid movement, she took flight.

Dinky squealed in exhilaration, just as she normally did, at the sudden rush of wind flying through her mane. Derpy could only smile at the happiness she gave to her daughter, as she might have swallowed a bug otherwise. Checking her list, she noticed that she was to deliver a parcel to Rarity; probably the imported Canterlot fabric she had been going on about. Tucking the parchment back into her bag, Derpy readjusted her course to Carousel Boutique. Dinky gave another whoop of excitement, and she found herself smiling again. _Today is going to be a good day._

…

What's up all you fine pony folk? I thought I'd take a little time off my current story and write a Derpy one-shot for Derpy Day. I personally think it is my best work, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. Leave a review, if you want, about how I did; they make me feel warm and fuzzy inside! Oh, and happy Derpy Day everypony!

Ta ta for now!


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